Canadian PM Cancels Tariffs On Many US Goods, Including Bourbon

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced today that his government would cancel retaliatory tariffs against the United States, following telephone negotiations on Tuesday with US President Donald Trump. “Canada currently has the best trade deal with the United States. And while it’s different from what we had before, it’s still better than that of any other country,” Carney said.

The move effectively halts the trade war started by Trump earlier this year, freezing trade tensions ahead of next year, when the US-Mexico-Canada trade pact (USMCA) is due for renewal (or expiration as the case may be). U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has said, “I think the president is absolutely going to renegotiate USMCA,” even though USMCA was originally negotiated during Trump’s first term and enacted in January 2020.

Among the products which were spared official Canadian wrath is American Whiskey. The move was well-received in Kentucky, which hosts the largest whiskey industry in the US, valued at $9 billion. “We applaud Prime Minister Mark Carney’s decision to restore reciprocal zero-to-zero tariffs for Kentucky Bourbon and many other remaining goods covered under the USMCA,” says Kentucky Distiller Association President Eric Gregory.

When Trump started a trade war with Canada earlier this year while simultaneously threatening to invade and conquer the country, Canadians responded with a widespread and popular boycott of American goods. Bourbon was a high profile example, sparking campaigns like this summer’s call to substitute native Canadian whiskies for bourbon in Old Fashioneds. Although the price of bourbon may not rise on Canadian shelves, it remains to be seen if the feelings of actual Canadians will soften and they’ll buy American whiskeys again

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